Animal traps are well known in the prior art. Typical traps generally comprise an enclosure having at least one open end in which the animal enters. Upon activating a triggering mechanism, a door closes over the open end, trapping the animal inside. Many traps in the prior art are designed to kill or maim the trapped animal. United Kingdom Patent No. 2,209,113 to Waling describes an electronically actuated spring-loaded mouse trap which kills or maims the quarry upon use. U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,619 to Zapata et al. describes an electric mouse trap wherein a sensor underneath the bait triggers a solenoid to trap or impale the animal directly, thereby causing severe injury or death to the animal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,142 to Marotti describes a trap for mice in which upon disturbance of the bait, an electrical motor encloses the animal and poisonous gas is then pumped into the enclosure. U.S. Pat. No. 2,490,017 to Crumrine describes an animal trap that mutilates, electrocutes, then ejects the animal's body away from the apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 2,448,780 to Crumrine describes an animal trap that traps, electrocutes and disposes of the animal carcass automatically. Injuring or killing the animal may be undesirable. Disposing of a rotting carcass may often pose health hazards and many individuals may object to the inhuman treatment of the animal.
A common design for trapping an animal without injury involves mechanically releasing a latch to close the opening in which the animal entered the enclosure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,934 to Conover describes an animal trap wherein a vertically sliding trap door is mechanically actuated by a swingably mounted bait holder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,624 to Askins describes an animal trap having a pivotally closing trap door actuated mechanically by an internal trip pan upon which the animal steps. U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,594 to Askins et al. describes a two door animal trap wherein vertically sliding doors on both ends of the trap are mechanically released when the animal steps on a trip pan within the enclosure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,710 to Bitz describes an animal trap having a vertically sliding trap door which is actuated by mechanical movement of a bait stick triggered by the animal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,210 to Nastas describes a live animal trap having a vertically sliding trap door which is actuated by mechanical movement of a bait-holding tray. U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,590 to Palfalvy describes an animal capture device wherein the bait is connected to a cord which pulls out a door-retaining pin to enclose and trap the animal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,796 to Souza describes an animal capture device which initially traps the animal in a first compartment, scares the animal into a second compartment for holding and then resets the apparatus to continue its function. U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,395 to Van Kuren describes a non-electrically actuated animal trap using a trip wire to release a trap door and enclose the animal.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,488,312 to Bronson describes an electromagnetic animal trap wherein the weight of the animal on a base plate completes a circuit to swing a trap door shut. The movement is designed to scare the animal into a cage. Upon stepping off the base plate, the circuit breaks and the trap door swings back open. However, the Bronson patent requires a significant power source to operate properly and the intended operation of the device requires the animal to follow an expected behavior pattern by being frightened into a chute.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for an animal capture device that effectively and humanely retains the capture animal until it may be later release.
There is a further need in the art for an animal capture device with increased sensitivity to movement by the animal in order to prevent the animal's escape before the animal is effectively trapped.
There is a further need in the art for an animal capture device that permits the bait to draw the animal into the enclosure, yet prevents the animal from consuming the bait.
There is a further need in the art for an animal capture device that may be easily cleaned and disinfected after use.
There is a further need in the art for an animal capture device that shields vulnerable circuitry from destruction by the captured animal.
There is a further need in the art for an animal capture device that is simple and safe to operate.
However, in view of the prior art in at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be fulfilled.